StudioTulsa on Health: Concerning Women in Recovery, a Family & Children's Services Program

As some of us know already, Oklahoma leads the nation, by a lamentably significant margin, in female incarcerations --- and two-thirds of the women in our state's prisons are actually there for non-violent offenses. Today, we hear about on-going efforts to combat this trend. On this edition of StudioTulsa on Health, Dr. John Schumann, our guest host, learns about Women in Recovery (or WIR), an outpatient incarceration-alternative for women facing long prison sentences for non-violent, drug-related offenses. The program began in 2009; it's operated by Family and Children's Services of Tulsa with grant support and guidance from the George Kaiser Family Foundation. Dr. Schumann's guests are Mimi Tarrasch of Family and Children's Services, who directs the WIR program; Amy Santee, a senior program officer at the George Kaiser Family Foundation, who focuses on WIR; and Brooke Martin, a full-time student and mother of four who recently graduated from the WIR program. As these three guests duly attest, WIR works with the criminal justice system as well as various community partners to ensure that women who participate in this program receive supervision, substance abuse and mental health treatment, education, workforce readiness training, and family reunification services. (You can learn more about the WIR program at the Family and Children's Services as well as the George Kaiser Family Foundation websites. And in full disclosure: Public Radio Tulsa also receives financial support from the George Kaiser Family Foundation.)